Helianthus debilis |
Helianthus deserticola |
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cucumberleaf sunflower, weak sunflower |
desert sunflower |
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Habit | Annuals or perennials, 30–200 cm (taprooted). | Annuals, 10–40 cm. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | decumbent to erect, glabrous, hirsute, or puberulent. |
(green or red) erect, densely hirsute and gland-dotted. |
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Leaves | mostly cauline; mostly alternate; petioles 1–7 cm; blades deltate-ovate, lance-ovate, or ovate, 2.5–14 × 1.8–13 cm, bases cordate to truncate or broadly cuneate, margins subentire to serrate, abaxial faces glabrate to hispid, not gland-dotted. |
mostly cauline; mostly alternate; petioles 1–6 cm; blades lanceolate to lance-ovate, 2.5–5 × 1–2 cm, bases cuneate, margins entire, abaxial faces hispid-hirsute, densely gland-dotted. |
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Peduncles | 9–50 cm. |
1–3(–8) cm. |
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Involucres | hemispheric, 10–22 mm diam. |
hemispheric, 13–25 mm diam. |
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Ray florets | 11–20; laminae 12–23 mm. |
7–13; laminae 10–30 mm (abaxial faces gland-dotted). |
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Disc florets | 30+; corollas 4.5–5 mm, lobes usually reddish, sometimes yellow; anthers dark, appendages dark (style branches usually reddish, rarely yellow). |
25+; corollas 5.5–6 mm, lobes reddish; anthers dark, appendages purplish (style branches reddish). |
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Phyllaries | 20–30, lanceolate, 8–17 × 1–3 mm, apices acute to long-attenuate, abaxial faces glabrous or ± hispid, not gland-dotted. |
13–21, lanceolate to lance-ovate, 7–19 × 1.5–2 mm (equaling or slightly surpassing discs), (margins ciliate) apices acuminate, abaxial faces hispid (hairs erect, often 1+ mm) gland-dotted. |
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Heads | 1–3. |
1–5. |
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Cypselae | 2.5–3.2 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy; pappi of 2 lanceolate or lance-linear scales 1.2–2.5 mm. |
4–5 mm, pilose; pappi usually of 2 linear scales 1.6–2.5 mm plus 4–6 linear or ovate, erose scales 0.5–1 mm. |
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Paleae | 7.5–8 mm, apices 3-toothed (middle teeth acuminate, usually glabrous or hispid, sometimes ± villous or bearded). |
8–9 mm, ± 3-toothed (middle teeth equaling or slightly surpassing discs, apices yellowish brown, usually hispid). |
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2n | = 34. |
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Helianthus debilis |
Helianthus deserticola |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–fall. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Dry, open areas | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 400–1500 m (1300–4900 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; MI; MS; NC; NH; NY; PA; RI; SC; TX; VA; VT; WV
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AZ; NV; UT |
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Discussion | Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora). C. B. Heiser (1956) placed 8 subspecies in Helianthus debilis; he noted that alternative taxonomic treatments might recognize these in as many as three species, or expand the single species to include H. petiolaris. Later, Heiser et al. (1969) separated three of the subspecies as H. praecox. Isozyme data (R. P. Wain 1982, 1983; L. H. Rieseberg and M. F. Doyle 1989) show that all are closely related. Documented hybridization with H. annuus further complicates the situation. The treatment by Heiser et al. is followed here. Helianthus debilis is adventive beyond the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Helianthus deserticola is relatively uncommon; it is not federally listed. Abundant subsessile glands (“resin dots”) on stems, leaves, phyllaries, and abaxial faces of ray laminae help to distinguish H. deserticola from H. anomalus, with which it is sometimes lumped. L. H. Rieseberg (1991) demonstrated that it is of hybrid origin; parental species are H. annuus and H. petiolaris. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 21, p. 150. | FNA vol. 21, p. 154. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus | Asteraceae > tribe Heliantheae > subtribe Helianthinae > Helianthus | ||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 367. (1841) | Heiser: Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci. 70: 209, fig. 1. (1960) | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |